Banana Coconut Protein Balls

Protein balls are one of my favorite snacks to make for my family. I try to keep a bowl of them in the fridge for when I need a snack in between meals or forget to eat (you know, mom life). They are packed with so much goodness and are a healthy, sweet treat! If you haven’t heard of protein balls before, they are sort of like granola bars just miniature versions.

I try not to skip meals, but sometimes there are unavoidable (or maybe avoidable) disasters, like forgetting to buy more milk at the store (which is avoidable) and it’s raining sideways outside (not avoidable).

To recap what happened, here’s the story: I forgot to buy almond milk. It was raining sideways outside and flooding. I couldn’t go to the store because I don’t have a car boat. So, I made my own almond milk using what I had.

I used this recipe: Totally Heavenly Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk by The Healthy Foodie. I didn’t have the dates; so, I sweetened it with maple syrup. After making the almond milk, I had a good amount of almond meal left over and I didn’t want to waste it. So, I made up a recipe using it for Protein Balls.

Banana Coconut Protein Balls

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana mashed with fork

1/2 cup almond meal (you can get this as the grocery store, no need to make your own.)

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup almond butter

1 tablespoon maple syrup/honey

1/2 cup Malt o Meal/flaxseed meal

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1/4 tablespoon vanilla extract (I’ve also tried maple extract when I have used honey to sweeten)

1/4 tablespoon cinnamon

1 cup coconut flakes

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl minus the coconut flakes.

Put the coconut flakes in a small bowl and set it aside.

Roll a small amount of the mixture into 1/2 inch to 1 inch ball in your hand. It will be a little sticky.

Roll the ball into the coconut flakes covering the entire ball.

Place the ball on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

Once done rolling all the balls, put the tray in your freezer for 7-10 minutes to make firm.

Take them out of the freezer and store in air tight container in fridge. Enjoy a snack!

It’s hot wheat cereal (ground up wheat with B vitamins). It’s usually found by oatmeal in the grocery store. I found it at Target. My husband likes to eat it in the morning sometimes. But, flax seed meal would work too!